The One Thing That Can Make All The Difference With Your Videos

“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” The Bible

Confused yet?

Let me explain.

One of the big mistakes people make when creating a video, especially from scratch, is they don’t POLARIZE. They do not do want to offend anyone so they keep everything general.

Polarity is probably the number one reason why a video and your message fails.

We work with some of the biggest companies in the world and it’s frustrating how much effort, money, and resources are spent trying not to offend the masses. Instead of focusing their message on their fans and users, they get distracted and try and create a message that makes everyone happy.

Not saying you can’t have both…

Well actually, yes I am.

Lukewarm is the enemy.

Examples…

“Please make sure the drawings include one girl, one black guy, two Chinese people, one gay guy and a tranny. We want to make sure the world knows how diverse we are.”

“Our product or service is for everyone. We have to make sure we include the following features…..”

Or… “We’re getting calls from some of our customers who find our video offensive. Shouldn’t we create videos that all our customers like?”

I always tell my clients that a great way to know if their marketing works…is by the number of angry responses you get. You will have haters.

“When your messages cause polarity, it attracts attention and people will pay for it. Neutrality is boring, and rarely is money made or changed created when you stay neutral. Being polar is what will attract raving fans and people who will follow you and pay for your advice.” Russel Brunson

This may hurt…

If you’re like me, you hate when people do not like you. It’s actually a real struggle for me. I come across that it doesn’t bother me, but deep down it does. I want people to like me and my intentions are to help them.

Every email sequence I send out, I will get a couple of harsh responses sent back to me. It’s frustrating and can turn into a time suck. I used to respond, but I have learned to let it go and spend time and resources with those who are my fans.

For every 100 people that love you, there’s a few that will hate.

Just move on.

“You see, marketing formulated for the masses is guaranteed to deliver quiet and understated ad copy, and creating a likable ad isn’t your goal. Again, your goal is persuasion. So choose who to lose and let the cash register determine the success of your marketing.”

Here’s a story for you.

Have you ever wanted to admit that you are #2 in your market? Me neither. I would think this would be a formula for instant disaster.

Think again.

In 1962, Avis was going under and they needed to make a change quickly. Since its inception, Hertz was the dominate player in the care rental space and AVIS was clearly going down.

So the ad agency Doyle Dane Bernbach decided to pitch a different kind of Idea to the executive. They would embrace their second-place status as a sneaky way to tout the brand’s customer service.

I have not idea how they got the executives to buy into this. I can hear the complaints now. I guess when a company is desperate they are willing to try anything.

Here is a screen shot of the ad.

“When you’re only No. 2, you try harder. Or else.”

Within a few years Avis had taken a huge market share and were no longer #2.

Here’s another one of their ads.

“Don’t be afraid to polarize people. Most companies want to create the holy grail of products that appeals to every demographic, social-economic background, and geographic location. To attempt to do so guarantees mediocrity. Instead, create great products that make segments of people very happy. And fear not if these products make other segments unhappy. The worst case is to incite no passionate reactions at all, and that happens when companies try to make everyone happy.” Guy Kawasaki

When can this polarity fire?

When you cross the line into CRAZY.

A good example of this is Kathy Griffin. She has always been polarizing and it served her well. She has made millions. You either love her or hate her. She had a loyal following that produced a lot of money and fame.

But…

Everything came to a screeching and pathetic halt with her latest stunt. Kathy Griffin crossed the crazy line. Even her loyal fans have deserted her.

This seldom happens so do not let Kathy’s story be an excuse on why you should not push the line.

A video that is trying to target everybody: skinny, fat, big, small, old, young. May not offend. But, it’s just another flavor of vanilla. If you don’t polarize your audience, you don’t create a following.

If you do not create a following, you will not have enough persuasion to get them to purchase your product or service.